The Albanese government's move to appoint former deputy Labor leader Jenny Macklin as the chair of the new independent advisory body into the welfare system has fallen flat, with the Antipoverty Centre calling for a boycott.
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The former Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in the Rudd and Gillard governments was announced on Friday as the chair of the economic inclusion advisory committee, created after the industrial relations deal with independent ACT senator David Pocock.
Economists, academics, community advocates and business and union leaders make up the 14 interim committee members, who have been charged with advising on work barriers, employment services and income support payments, such as JobSeeker, ahead of every Federal Budget.
But the decision to appoint Ms Macklin has outraged some welfare groups for being political and, in their view, inappropriate.
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"With Macklin leading it, this committee can be nothing but a fig leaf for the government to hide behind while its decisions leave welfare recipients desperate, homeless and hospitalised for poverty-related illnesses," Antipoverty Centre spokesperson Kristin O'Connell said in a statement.
"The welfare system is killing people and Jenny Macklin is one of the people who led us here.
"David Pocock had good intentions in negotiating this committee. He and the rest of civil society need to stand with unemployed people and call out this process for the sham it is."
The Antipoverty Centre cites Ms Macklin as being behind changes to the Disability Support Pension and JobSeeker which have been Australians struggling to survive.
It wants the Government to immediately improve the representation of the committee and is asking groups such as the Australian Council of Social Services, Brotherhood of St Lawrence and others to refuse to engage with it until it is inclusive and representative.
Greens leader Adam Bandt has also questioned the independence of the committee and urged Labor to "just lift all income support above the poverty line".
Other members of the committee include ACTU secretary Sally McManus, the Business Council of Australia's Jennifer Westacott, Matthew Cox of the Bryan Foundation, the chair of Victorian NDIS Community Advisory Leah Van Poppel, and Emily Carter, chief executive of Marninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre.
Senator Pocock secured the committee through negotiations with the government on its industrial relations bill, calling the initial creation of the expert panel a "game changer" for people on JobSeeker.
"I'm looking forward to engaging with this really impressive group of people to explore ways to tackle disadvantage in our communities in a responsible, meaningful way," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement.
The role of the permanent advisory committee is expected to be legislated in 2023, to provide advice for all future federal budgets.
The secretaries of the Department of Social Services and Treasury, Ray Griggs and Dr Steven Kennedy, will also be ex-officio members of the committee.